Monday, August 29, 2011

Obama Vacation Abuse (re-re-re-re-redux)

As we've noted before, the Obamas have been vacation abusers, draining the Treasury dry with their desire to live like royalty. Now we have an interesting report that tells us exactly what Madame Obama’s expensive tastes have cost us simple taxpayers, and it ain’t pretty: $10 million of public money has been spent to let Madame O indulge her privileged tastes.

How in the world does one rack up this kind of bill, you ask? Well, let’s start with this. In the past year alone, Michelle has taken 42 days of vacation. That’s six full weeks of vacation for those of you playing along at home, who probably get two weeks a year if that.

And when she goes, she goes in style. For example, she loves celebrity-laden areas like Vail, Colorado and hobnobbing with elitists at Martha’s Vineyard while the Kennedys rape-rape the locals. And when she wants to get away from it all, she takes the kids to see Spanish royalty or the Queen of England, or an African safari, or she goes on a shopping binge in Paris or London.

The trip to Spain cost us taxpayers $375,000 just to house her security contingent -- her total entourage consisted of 40 friends and 68 security personnel. Louis XIV didn't have that many people in his whole court! Air Force Two cost us $149,000 round trip. The property in Martha’s Vineyard costs $50,000 per week to rent, and that doesn’t count the Coast Guard patrolling the waters or the helicopter they keep on standby. The hotel in Vail was $2,000 per night per room. . . clearly not the Motel 6. The rent on the Kailua property in Hawaii was $38,000, but that was a pittance compared to the total $1.5 million the Obamas' Christmas trip to Hawaii cost the taxpayers.

And this doesn’t even count all the days her lazy husband spends golfing or the nights they spend wining and dining Hollywood and Wall Street royalty at the White House.

Moreover, it’s not just the luxury suites and the MC Hammer-like entourages that are the problem. There is a real lack of judgment and a serious disdain for the taxpayers going on here. When they decided to go to Martha’s Vineyard to get away from the riff-raff for a few days, they ended up taking separate jets because they wanted to leave two hours apart!!! That cost the taxpayers $50,000 because Madame O couldn't wait two hours for Lord O to finish napping.

This is all despicable.

Using the median wage, her vacation expenses are the equivalent of taxing 100% of the salaries of 250 people!! At a 20% tax rate, that means she squandered all the taxes collected from 1250 people. . . a small city. Don't you think that money could have been better used by the taxpayers or even the rest of the government?

And yet liberals see no problem with this. In fact, liberals believe the Obamas, the rapey Kennedys, and the mega-rich Pelosis when they pretend to speak for the little guy. Is that the little guy whose benefits are being cut because the government is short of money or the little guy who is being crushed to pay taxes so the Obamas can party like it’s 1699 France?

How stupid do you need to be, to be a liberal and not see the rip off here? These are the same people who complain about the ultra-rich spending their money on lavish houses, yachts, private planes and vacations. But at least they are using their own money. How can you possibly justify the Obamas doing the same thing with taxpayer money?

Then you add in things like the two new tour buses we paid for. At one million dollars each, we got ripped off. What’s more, they were made in Canada -- not even the US of A. And get this. They don’t actually drive the dang things to events. What they are doing is flying the things to the airport nearest the event and then driving Obama to the event in them. When the event is over, they return to the airport and fly the bus to the next stop. Why even have the bus in the first place? What’s wrong with the limo?

I’m going to stop now before this raises my blood pressure too much. But any way you slice it, the Obamas are an obscenity. And the liberals who voted for them are suckers.

Maybe that’s why the unions are talking about abandoning the Democrats?

51 comments:

T-Rav said...

Unfortunately, Andrew, there's not a snowball's chance in you-know-where that the unions will abandon the Democrats. As much as the rank-and-file might connect with conservatives on some issues, their leaders are beholden to the Party, and will never give it up. At best, we can only expect them to not push as hard for Obama as they did in '08, and even that's iffy.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, You mean to tell me that you're not falling for the usual pre-election "you better give us what we want this time or we won't support you" line that every interest groups uses before every election?

It's so predictable it's become cliche.

DUQ said...

Andrew, I take it you are being rhetorical asking how stupid liberals need to be? They never worry about how corrupt their leaders are. They will look past anything so long as their leader promises to take care of them.

AndrewPrice said...

DUQ, That's true. Liberals are big on looking the other way even when they are confronted dead on with the crimes of their leaders. Look at the Congressional Black Caucus, which act as a group like pirates, thieves and corrupt third-world dictators.... yet blacks don't care. Or look at all the sex scandals of the Clintons, the Gores, the Kennedys (not to mention the rapes and the murders)... yet liberals treat them like princes.

It's an old story with liberals. They will happily trade being oppressed for not having to take care of themselves.

AndrewPrice said...

P.S. Speaking of corrupt dictators, I see some interesting rumors that Qaddafi is now in Zimbabwe. That actually makes a lot of sense. I thought he would head for Sudan, but Zimbabwe is probably the better choice.

I also see the rebels have refused to hand over the Pan-Am hijackers. Imagine that.

Unknown said...

Andrew: It takes a lot of energy to make the same speech over, and over, and over. The One needs to rest up before and after its delivery. And look at all the people he and Michelle put to work whenever they travel. I think you're being too hard on him. After, all, he is the Emperor, er, President. He can't travel by Greyhound, can he?

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, He certainly sees himself as emperor, that's for sure. As for reading the same speech, I'm surprised he doesn't just run a videotape so that he can get more golfing in.

That's really what the bus is for... to carry his golf clubs and Michelle's ill-gotten shopping gains.

Jocelyn said...

Andrew, I had not heard that Obama flies his bus from airport to airport. That is ridiculous. But, it doesn't seem like the MSM says anything about it. But you know, it's okay to bash Bush for "vacatoning" to his Texan home to entertain dignitaries.

It's so unfortunate that liberals don't realize how hypocritical they are. And they can't be bothered to think outside of their little box.

AndrewPrice said...

Jocelyn, I only heard about this last week. Why even buy a bus if all you're going to do is fly (read: airlift) it to a nearby airport and then drive Obama to the event? The very reason to get a tour bus is to drive it from location to location. If all you're going to do is drive from airport, then the limo (or a taxi) would be good enough.

This strikes me as Obama wanting more comfort on our hard-stretched dimes.

On liberals, I know. It's amazing how often their own side does the very things they complain about, but they refuse to even see it because that doesn't fit with how they want to see the world.

BevfromNYC said...

"As for reading the same speech, I'm surprised he doesn't just run a videotape so that he can get more golfing in."

How do we know he ISN'T just running a video of his speeches and playing golf?

The Obama's were supposed to be at the Vineyard for two weeks, but their vacay got cut short because of Irene. The MSM is now reporting that it like they were only going to be there for a few days and were coming back anyway.

ScyFyterry said...

I've been lurking at the film site for awhile. Andrew, I am shocked by the blatantness of this Thief in Chief. He and his Queen are robbing us blind.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, No doubt they will use this as an excuse to go for more vacation because their Martha's Vineyard vacation got ruined.

In terms of the videotape, we actually wouldn't know. The MSM would never tell us and they only people turning out (if they are even real and aren't all digital) are his hardcore supporters who wouldn't spill the bean. Maybe we should ask someone to go check out his next rally and see if he really turns up?

AndrewPrice said...

ScyFyterry, Welcome out from the e-shadows! :-)

Thief in Chief is right. The Obamas clearly see the Treasury as their own personal piggy bank.

LL said...

Narcissists believe that the world exists to serve and please them -- enter Obama.

AndrewPrice said...

LL, A very true statement indeed. The question I have, which one is the bigger narcissist? Obama or Mrs. O?

BevfromNYC said...

Hey did you hear the one about Obama's Uncle Onyango who was arrested for DWI and crashing into a police car? No? I wonder why? Hmmmm. Oh, he is also here illegally...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Nope I didn't hear that. Was he driving a tour bus? ;-)

Actually, I'm not at all surprised we wouldn't hear about that because the media never delves into the families of candida. . . oh wait, they do seem to have attacked the relatives of every Republican ever. Indeed, they still occasionally attack "the Bush twins" now and then. Hmm. I wonder why they aren't talking about this one? What could be the difference? Hmmm....

Unknown said...

Bev: See my post this afternoon.

Ed said...

Andrew, I think Obama needs a permanent vacation. We should help him retire in November 2012. Then he can go off somewhere and golf to his heart's content!

On Libya, I am shocked that they won't turn out the Pan-Am bomber to us, just shocked! Here I thought everything was suddenly going to be great and wonderful now that Obama waived his magic hand?

I hope he likes Zimbabwe.

On the uncle/tour bus thing, who knows who's driving the tour buses? It could be Biden for all we know! Run for your lives!!!

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I will assume you solve these mysteries for us? LOL!

Unknown said...

Andrew: The Amazing Lawhawk knows all, sees all, reveals all. LOL

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, The thing about Zimbabwe is that so long as Mugabe is alive, he won't ever trade Qaddafi in. So it's a safe place for him to take whatever money he has stolen. But keep in mind, it's only a rumor at this point. He could be in anywhere right now. Heck, he could be on Obama's tour bus! As you say, we have no idea who is driving that??

On the bomber, I never thought for a minute that they would turn this guy over. That would make them look like American puppets, so even if they wanted to turn him over (which they don't), the wouldn't. But more to the point, they don't want to turn him over. They are Islamic Nationalists who aren't planning on being our friends.

On Obama's 2012 retirement, let's hope so. I will be very happy to see him drive off into the sunset.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, Excellent, we have a fortune teller in our midsts!

Ed said...

Andrew, I could see Lady Gaga driving Obama's bus too.

I see that Obama's poll numbers hit a new low. How does he hitting new lows every week? Shouldn't he be out of new lows at this point?

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, I'm warming to the Qaddafi idea!

Obama manages to keep hitting new lows because there are so many polling places all reporting when he hits a new low. So he hits each low several times. What's important is the trend.

And speaking of low, did you see this: LINK? The federal government's approval rating is worse than the approval ratings of any industry in America. That's really pathetic.

Koshcat said...

Not really surprised either by the blatent misuse of public funds or the new low for government approval. Perhaps Obama really believes in Keynesian economics and is just doing his part to stimulate the economy. The trouble is he just hasn't done enough so NEXT year he will double down and go on even more vacations.

What happened with staying at a rich friends house or at Camp David? He could stay at the Kennedy place in MA or Buffet's place in Omaha or Pelosi's place in CA. Maybe they don't want him either? It's because they're racists!

I am always confused how some of the Presidents get away with using public money clearly for political reasons. The bus tour was a re-election campaign. Nothing else. He should be forced to give the money back.

BevfromNYC said...

Are we sure Qaddaffi isn't hiding out in Chicago with Farakhan? Louie and Muamar are best buds and Louie was mighty peeved at the Obamanator for helping the UN take him out.

Maybe we should save this for The Great Hawk-ini, seer of wonders and obamanations...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Who knows? With this hurricane diversion, he could be anywhere!

I could see him hiding with Farakhan or Sharpton or Rev. Wright... or at Obama's old house.

I wish I was a journalist just so I could ask Obama: "Is there any truth to the rumors that Qaddafi is hiding at your house?"

AndrewPrice said...

Koshcat, I agree, the whole bus thing is clearly aimed at giving him campaign tools and they should make him pay for all of it.

I think the way some presidents get away with using public money and others don't is that those who get away with it are Democrats and the media looks the other way. Whereas those who don't get away with it are Republican, who are accused of wrongdoing no matter what they do.

On stimulating the economy, I'm surprised he hasn't tried to sell that one yet: "my vacations help the local economies."

BevfromNYC said...

Ari Fleischer made a good point about Obama's bus tour. Obama's people made a big mistake and should have waited until after Obama's upcoming "Jobs Plan" speech to make the bus tour. So, instead of it being purely and obviously a campaign stumping tour, he could have used it to hawk is jobs plan.

Though if his Jobs Plan is anything like his stimulus plan, we can expect massive layoffs right after the speech...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, LOL! Yeah, everyone should expect to be laid off right after Obama finished laying out his jobs plan.

I can't wait to see what he comes up with: "We're going to double the employment tax because taxes create jobs and then spend the money on a Presidential villa in Spain to keep down the costs of future vacations."

P.S. That's a good point about the bus. They should have waited for something that could arguably appear job related rather than just buying a snazzy new campaign tool.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, call me cynical. In terms of likelihood, I rank it right next to "Libya will turn over the PanAm bomber," "Obama's illegal alien uncle will be deported," and "MTV will stop sucking at everything." In other words, very unlikely.

AndrewPrice said...

That just proves you're a smart man T-Rav. The unions would be smart to dump the Democrats, but they won't do it. They are too tightly tied together. This is just an ample threat.

That said, I could easily see Libya turning over Obama's uncle and MTV being deported! ;-)

AndrewPrice said...

P.S. Obama not sucking at everything is an impossibility. Einstein proved it:

Incompetence = MCObama

Tennessee Jed said...

A while back, Limbaugh did a very funny parody on this topic. He sings about "Moochelle, my belle" and the jefferson's "movin on up." I figure if I am going to be labled as a rascist just for disagreeing with the president anyway, I might as well enjoy a laugh at Rush's politically incorrect parodies.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, Good point! And you're right, any disagreement with Obama is now considered evidence of racism, so clear the term "racism" doesn't mean what it used to me, so who cares.

I've heard both of the songs of which you speak and I agree -- nice parodies!

BevfromNYC said...

There seems to be conflict about what and/or who is racist - Algore said that global warming skepticism is the new racism, but then Democrats say that disagreeing with any Obama-doctrine is racist. I am confused...

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, While that sounds like a contradiction, there is an easy answer: anyone who doesn't toe the Democratic line is racist. That pretty much sums it up. Of course, that means that 60% of Americans are racist, but what can you do?

patti said...

10 million is beyond vile when so many are unemployed. it makes my lip permanently curl when i think of her giving us the vacay-finger. *you* may be struggling, but she'll take your forked-over tax dollars and jet off to forget such unpleasantness.

rlaWTX said...

don't y'all know that we are allllll racists? if not, I'm sure that T-Rav and I can share our grad texts that tell us in the social sciences that we are racists. sometimes you have to dig a bit, but it's there.

take a look at your multicultural competency - I bet you fail, you racist critter you! (sorry - 1st chapter of a new text book...)

http://www.amcdaca.org/amcd/competencies.pdf

AndrewPrice said...

Patti, This really is one of those moments where you have to say: "think about what could have been done with that money!"

A lot of people could have been employed or helped out with that money. Instead, it all get shot down the drain by these heartless, brainless, moochers.

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, I'm pretty sure that anyone who isn't a liberal is a racist. . . whether they act like it or think like it or not. And of course, anyone who is a liberal cannot be a racist, because that just wouldn't be right.

Here's your link: LINK.

I'll check it out! Thanks! :-)

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, So basically, what these liberals are saying is that we honkeys can't ever possibly truly understand minorities because we're racists. Hmm. Why does that sounds like an argument for racial separation? I guess liberals never quite got over the end of slavery?

rlaWTX said...

the only good thing about the multicult stuff in social sciences is that even libs are racists - they are just aware of it and attempt to reduce the impact their biases have on those other folks... that's how you become "competent"!

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, Of course, if you think about it, this argument makes the whole field into a fraud.

If a white person cannot understand a black person (and vice versa) then how can we be sure that any of the underlying theories make sense? In other words, any theory created by a white psychologist cannot apply to anyone except whites. Thus, its principles are not universal.

Moreover, if whites/blacks can't understand each other, then why should men/women be able to understand each other? Or the young and the old? Or frankly any two people who haven't led identical lives.

A white person and black person who live on the same block in NYC are much more likely to know each other better than either could know me.

So really, when you take this theory to its logical extent, what it says is that you can't know anyone who isn't you. Thus, the whole field is a fraud because you are trapped in your own mind and nothing you think is true can reliably be considered true of anyone else.

Gee.

rlaWTX said...

I found this when I was looking for that link earlier - It's the flipside of your logical conclusion... http://www.sageofasheville.com/pub_downloads/DO_WE_NEED_MULTICULTURAL_COUNSELING_COMPETENCIES.pdf

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, Much better.

I think the idea that a person of one race/culture cannot understand a person of another is a ridiculous attempt to create an issue where there is none. It is a political theory to allow liberals to explain away certain parts of themselves that don't fit the liberal worldview -- which is itself a highly flawed "wishful thinking" view of reality.

Humans are innately similar in their mental construction. Culture may change conscious beliefs, but it does not affect the fundamental instincts which guide our actions, e.g. how we respond to certain stimuli (e.g. how we react to members of the opposite sex, how we react to fear, how we react to food, how we generate our self image, etc.). That's what's relevant in understanding human nature.

Unfortunately, that's also the one thing humans are very bad at understanding.

So to me, the whole multicultural approach is nothing more than further self-delusion designed to avoid some obvious truths that don't fit the worldview these practitioners want to have.

Here is your link: LINK

CrispyRice said...

LOL @ Koshcat - "Obama really believes in Keynesian economics and is just doing his part to stimulate the economy. The trouble is he just hasn't done enough so NEXT year he will double down and go on even more vacations."

Of course, I think it's funny, but I have just enough belief that O could do it.

Ugh. Can it be next November now, please?

AndrewPrice said...

Crispy, November can't come fast enough. Ugh.

StanH said...

Damn, I hate these bastards.

AndrewPrice said...

Tell me about it Stan! They should be in jail.

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